Golf tee and method for making the same

ABSTRACT

An exemplary golf tee ( 100 ) includes a substrate ( 100   a ) and a coating film ( 100   b ). The substrate is made of metal or metal alloy. The coating film is formed on an outside surface of the substrate. The present invention also provides a method for making the exemplary golf tee. The method includes providing a roughcast made of metallic or metallic alloy material; forming the substrate by a method of die-casting with the roughcast; and forming the coating film on an outside surface of the substrate by a method of surface treating.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to golf tees and methods for making thesame.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

Golf tees are commonly used at driving ranges and golf courses toposition the golf ball above the ground. Recently, more and more golftees are required with golf game being more and more popular.

Typical golf tees are generally wooden tees, plastic tees, or bambootees. Such golf tees have many shortcomings. For example, for woodentees and bamboo tees, the following shortcomings exist. (1) Wooden teesand bamboo tees are weak in strength and toughness. Such golf tees,particularly connecting portions of heads and bodies of golf tees, areeasily worn out by hitting with golf club. Thus, wooden tees and bambootees have short service lives. In addition, wooden tees and bamboo teescan be only inserted into the ground with a small length because of thelow strength thereof. (2) Wooden tees and bamboo tees are affected bymoisture and expand on rainy days or when the ground is damp. As such,the strength of the golf tees reduces. In addition, damped, wooden, orbamboo golf tees with rough surfaces are difficult to clean. (3) Woodentees and bamboo tees are manufactured one by one, thus a manufacturingefficiency is very low. Furthermore, each golf tee is generallydifferent from others. That is, it is quite difficult to make golf teeswith the same size and shape. (4) It is difficult to form patterns suchas letterings, inscriptions, pictorial images on wooden tees and bambootees. Even if figures are formed on such golf tees, the figures areeasily worn off. (5) Wooden tees and bamboo tees have low hardness.Thus, the golf tees usually have rough surfaces after being abradedbecause of the low hardness. The golf tees have awful property inaesthetics.

For plastic tees, the following shortcomings exist. (1) Plastic teeshave low hardness. Thus, depressions and projections are formed on thegolf tees when hit by golf club. The golf tees have awful property inaesthetics. (2) Plastic tees are easily deformed in use. (3) Plastictees are difficult to be decomposed. Disused plastic tees would becomepollutions.

Therefore, a golf tee and a method for making the same which overcomesthe above-described shortcomings is desired.

SUMMARY

An exemplary golf tee includes a substrate and a coating film. Thesubstrate is made of metal or metal alloy. The coating film is formed onan outside surface of the substrate.

An exemplary method for making a golf tee includes: providing aroughcast made of metallic or metallic alloy material; forming asubstrate by a method of die-casting with the roughcast; and forming acoating film on an outside surface of the substrate by a method ofsurface treating.

Other advantages and novel features will become more apparent from thefollowing detailed description when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, theemphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principlesof the golf tee and the method for making the same. Moreover, in thedrawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a golf tee in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the golf tee of FIG. 1 viewed fromanother aspect.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the golf tee of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a golf tee 100 in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention includes a head 10, a body20, and a neck 40 for connecting the head 10 and the body 20. A tip 30is formed at an end of the body 20 and is opposite to the head 10. Thehead 10, the body 20, the neck 40 and the tip 30 are integrally formed.

The head 10 is a cylinder having a depression 101 defined at a top ofthe head 10. The depression 101 is configured for positioning golfballs. Four stiffening ribs 201 are formed at an outer surface of thegolf tee 100. The stiffening ribs 201 extend from a bottom of the head10 to a middle portion of the body 20. The stiffening ribs 201 areconfigured for enhancing strength of the golf tee 100. The tip 30 issubstantially conical and configured for inserting into the ground.Further, a FIG. 203 is defined in the golf tee 100.

Referring to FIG. 3, the golf tee 100 includes a substrate 100 a and acoating film 100 b coated on an outside surface of the substrate 100 a.The substrate 100 a is made of metal or metallic alloy such as iron,magnesium alloy, and zincum alloy. The material of the substrate 100 ais preferred to magnesium alloy and aluminium alloy that have smalldensity. Thus, the golf tee 100 may be light and handy. The coating film100 b is formed on the substrate 100 a by a method of surface treating.The coating film 100 b is preferably made of chrome, gold, nickel,copper, or silver.

A method for making the golf tee 100 includes the following steps: (1)providing a roughcast made of metallic or metallic alloy material; (2)forming the substrate 100 a by a method of die-casting with theroughcast; and (3) forming the coating film 100 b on an outside surfaceof the substrate 100 a by a method of surface treating.

In the first step, the material is metal or metallic alloy such as iron,magnesium alloy, zincum alloy and aluminium alloy. In this preferredembodiment, the material is magnesium alloy.

In the second step, melted liquid of the roughcast is poured into a moldcavity, compressed under pressure and cooled, thus forming the substrate100 a. A mold may define a plurality of mold cavities, thereby improvinga manufacturing efficiency. In addition, patterns with various shapesare formed on the substrate 100 a by die-casting. The patterns can becustomized and also can make the golf tees 100 more aestheticallypleasing.

In the third step, the substrate 100 a is machined, for example shearedto remove burr of the substrate 100 a formed in die-casting, beforesurface treating. The coating film 100 b with a material of chrome,gold, nickel, copper, or silver is plated on the outside surface of thesubstrate 100 a by galvanization, thereby forming the golf tee 100.Alternatively, the coating film 100 b may be formed by micro-arcoxidation, PVD (physical vapor deposition), or anode oxidationtechnology to make the surface of the golf tee 100 smooth, hard andsteady in chemistry.

It should be pointed out that, figures may also be formed on the golftee 100 by laser carving after surface treating.

The golf tee 100 at least has the following advantages: (1) The golf tee100 made of metal or metal alloy has high strength and toughness.Therefore, the golf tee 100 is difficult to be broken or deformed, thushaving a long service life. In addition, the golf tee 100 can beinserted into the ground with a long length because of the high strengththereof. Therefore, an exposed length of the golf tee 100 can beadjusted when the golf tee 100 is inserted in the ground. (2) The golftee 100 has high surface hardness, so the surface of the golf tee 100 isdifficult to be damaged. Further, the surface of the golf tee 100 issmooth and glossy, thus having a relatively beautiful appearance. (3)Golf tees 100 made of metal or metal alloy can be recycled. Therefore,worn out golf tees 100 could be recycled and would not contribute to thepollution of the environment. (4) The golf tees 100 manufactured bydie-casting have a high manufacturing efficiency. Also, all golf tees100 have the same shapes and sizes. (5) Figures can be formed on thegolf tees 100 easily and conveniently. (6) Particles, water vapor andother impurities cannot penetrate the golf tees 100. Furthermore, mudand other contaminants on the surface of the golf tees 100 can be easilycleaned.

It is believed that the present embodiments and their advantages will beunderstood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent thatvarious changes may be made thereto without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its materialadvantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being preferredor exemplary embodiments of the invention.

1. A golf tee, comprising: a substrate made of metal or metal alloy; anda coating film formed on an outside surface of the substrate.
 2. Thegolf tee as claimed in claim 1, wherein the substrate is formed bydie-casting.
 3. The golf tee as claimed in claim 1, wherein the coatingfilm is formed by a method of surface treating.
 4. The golf tee asclaimed in claim 3, wherein the surfacing treating is one of a group ofgalvanization, microarc oxidation, physical vapor deposition, and anodeoxidation technology.
 5. The golf tee as claimed in claim 1, wherein thesubstrate of the golf tee is made of magnesium alloy.
 6. The golf tee asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the substrate of the golf tee is made ofzincum alloy or aluminium alloy.
 7. The golf tee as claimed in claim 1,wherein the golf tee comprises at least one figure formed on a surfaceof the golf tee.
 8. The golf tee as claimed in claim 1, wherein thecoating film is made of chrome, gold, nickel, copper, or silver.
 9. Amethod for making golf tees, comprising: providing a roughcast made ofmetallic or metallic alloy material; forming a substrate by a method ofdie-casting with the roughcast; and forming a coating film on an outsidesurface of the substrate by a method of surface treating.
 10. The methodof making golf tees as claimed in claim 9, wherein melted liquid of theroughcast is poured into a mold cavity, compressed under pressure andcooled, thus forming the substrate.
 11. The method of making golf teesas claimed in claim 9, wherein the coating film with material of chrome,gold, nickel, copper, or silver is plated on the outside surface of thesubstrate by galvanization.
 12. The method of making golf tees asclaimed in claim 9, wherein the coating film is formed by microarcoxidation, physical vapor deposition, or anode oxidation technology. 13.The method of making golf tees as claimed in claim 9, wherein thesubstrate of the golf tee is made of magnesium alloy.
 14. The method ofmaking golf tees as claimed in claim 9, wherein the substrate of thegolf tee is made of zincum alloy or aluminium alloy.
 15. The method ofmaking golf tees as claimed in claim 14, wherein at least one figure isformed on the golf tee during forming the substrate by die-casting. 16.The method of making golf tees as claimed in claim 9, wherein thecoating film is made of chrome, gold, nickel, copper, or silver.